[MasterAssembler]

I joined because... maybe I will get an inside lead of when an Ikea store might open in Columbus Ohio. I see they are opening in Cincinatti Ohio, but that is 100 miles away.

It's hard to go anywhere in the Columbus area (reaching almost 3mil) without seeing signs that "Central Ohio's" population is growing. It often seems today's cornfield is tomorrow's shopping center.

Columbus is at least twice the size of Cincinatti; I wonder what demographics Ikea uses to determine where their next store will be.

Hopefully it is just a matter of time and we will have one.

[DulcineaK]

hello and welcome! i have no inside info on either an upcoming store or on how ikea determines where stores will be, but there is lots to discover around here so i hope you enjoy!

[Gloria]

Welcome! We in St. Louis have been waiting for an IKEA a long time too. This is the place to hear it first, though. Any IKEA rumors at all.
Best wishes,
Gloria

[knutter]

You can keep more up to date with the state of IKEA in Ohio at OHIKEA!: The site for Ohio IKEA News !

I am from Cincinnati, and I don't think you'll be seeing any IKEA action in Columbus any time soon. Columbus residents have the Pittsburgh and Detroit (Canton, MI) store as well as the new Cincinnati store (which will open in Spring 08). IKEA searched far and wide throughout Ohio before selecting it's site and the rumor was that since Columbus was so close to Pittsburgh and Detroit, it wasn't really a viable option.

In addition, I think you are mistaken about the growth rate and population of Cincinnati. Many people forget that part of Greater Cincinnati is Northern Kentucky (where the Cincinnati International Airport is located and has INSANE growth right now) and southeastern Indiana - all areas within the I-275 loop - and thus many people forget to include those populations into the statistics. It might be interesting to note that the official population for the entire Greater Cincinnati area is 1,900,000 (Greater Cincinnati Facts & Info ), while the officical population for Columbus is 733,203, and even if you take Columbus AND the entire Franklin county into account, the population is only 1,090,771 (Columbus, Ohio (OH) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders ), so your statement about population isn't correct, unless you have another source I didn't find?

Also, one needs to consider that a Cincinnati location offers IKEA more diverse access to other markets including Columbus, Lexington, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Louisville, Wheeling, WV, Dayton and others. If a Columbus location were selected the service area would too closely overlap the Pittsburgh and Canton/Detroit, Michigan service areas.

In any case, the Cincinnati IKEA location is actually quite a ways outside of Cincinnati in West Chester, OH - about 20 miles (45 minutes) north of downtown - so it's actually only 80 miles from the Columbus line, and just a quick trip down from Dayton.

You can go to the Ohio Ikea site and look back at many of the discussions regarding the process of the site selection for the Ohio Ikea and see the issues that apparently impacted the decision. Don't be a stranger - we're a friendly bunch down here in Cincinnati! Take a day and go shopping at IKEA in the morning and hit Paramount's King's Island Amusement Park on the way home! Hope to see you in spring '08 . . .

[DulcineaK]

holy cow knutter, what a ton of information, thank you for that!